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Indianapolis Star
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
The Inside Line IndyCar Podcast: Laguna Seca recap
In this episode of The Inside Line, IndyStar motorsports reporter Nathan Brown and co-host Joey Barnes kick-off their post-Laguna Seca episode taking a look at the historical implications of Alex Palou snagging his eighth win of 2025, where that stands in history and where he could end up once the season ends. The pair also explain how Palou can go about clinching his 4 th title in 5 years at IndyCar's next round at Portland and how Pato O'Ward can stay alive, too. Brown and Barnes discuss an analyze the much-talked-about perceived miscues from race control involving a pair of on-track incidents that didn't see yellow flags for 90 seconds during Sunday's race, and then they dive into the Silly Season topics of the moment: whether Will Power will (or should) be replaced at Team Penske by David Malukas for 2026 and what Colton Herta's chances are to secure a super license and give decisionmakers at Cadillac F1 a choice on whether to hand him a ride for the team's debut season in 2026.
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Bubba Wallace wins Brickyard 400 in double overtime at Indianapolis
Bubba Wallace made a risky fuel strategy pay off, winning the Brickyard 400 in double overtime at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With the fuel tank in his No. 23 Toyota nearly dry, Wallace held off Kyle Larson on two restarts after a red-flag for rain. Denny Hamlin finsihed third, followed by Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski. Wallace had about a 3-second lead on Larson when the race was stopped on Lap 156 because of a brief shower that dampened the south end of the racetrack. The red flag to dry the racetrack lasted 22 minutes and pushed the race past the scheduled distance of 160 laps. Capitalizing after making a two-tire stop on Lap 119, Wallace inherited the lead on Lap 143 when Ryan Blaney pitted from first. Larson, who had made a four-tire stop two laps after Wallace, had chopped the lead in half and was gaining by about a half-second per lap when the red flew at 5:04 p.m. Ty Gibbs finished 16th to win the inaugural In Season Challenge and the $1 million prize, beating Ty Dillon, who finished three laps down. Tire problems marred the race for mutliple contenders. After leading 40 of the first 83 laps, Austin Cindric's No. 2 Ford suffered a right-rear failure while running first on Lap 84. Cindric was 42 laps into his stint and likely would have been pitting soon. Team Penske teammate Joey Logano also suffered a right-rear failure on his No. 22 Ford on Lap 133 while trying to stretch his final tank of fuel to the finish. Erik Jones, who had qualified third, finished 35th after crashing in Turn 3 on Lap 90 because his No. 43 Toyota lost its right-front tire at speed. The wheel was improperly secured on Jones' prior pit stop. Stage 1 winner: Chase Briscoe Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney Next: Sunday, Aug. 3, 3:30 p.m. at Iowa Speedway on USA Network WILL BE UPDATED
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
What is NASCAR's In-Season Challenge? 2 drivers will settle $1 million title at Brickyard 400
INDIANAPOLIS — As Kyle Larson aims to go back-to-back in the Brickyard 400, Denny Hamlin hopes to finally snag his first victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Team Penske trio hope to deliver Roger Penske a hometown win of sorts, NASCAR's new In-Season Challenge, a mano-a-mano driver battle with $1 million on the line for the victorious team is guaranteed to end in a tie…er, Ty. Because a 32-driver field that for the last four NASCAR Cup series rounds has made for a bracket-style single-elimination in-season tournament of sorts will be decided through this weekend's Brickyard 400. No. 6 seed Ty Gibbs, a 22-year-old third-year Cup series driver of the No. 54 Toyota for his grandfather's Joe Gibbs Racing, will face off against the Cinderella story of the summer, No. 32 seed Ty Dillon, the 33-year-old driver of the No. 10 Chevy for Kaulig Racing who's bounced around and raced for 10 different Cup teams since he made his debut in 2014. In Round 1 of this summer's tournament, Dillon knocked off top-seeded Denny Hamlin in a crash-filled opening round at Atlanta Motor Speedway where half the crew presently top 10 in points, Hamlin included, crashed out and finished 30th or worse. Here's what you need to know about NASCAR's In-Season Challenge: With 36 full-season drivers in this year's Cup series field, NASCAR set a deadline of the June 1 race at Nashville Superspeedway at which the sanctioning body would include the top 32 drivers in points at the time in the In-Season Challenge field, leaving out Shane van Gisbergen, who would go on to win three of the next six races, all on road or street courses – as well as Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Cody Ware. The remaining drivers then had the next three Cup series rounds at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono to decide their tournament seed via their best finish from those three races with ties broken by drivers' next best finish during the seeding period. Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell landed seeds 1 through 4, respectively, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson and Dillon in the final four spots. Other notables in the seeding process included former series champs Chase Elliott (No. 5), Ryan Blaney (No. 7), Larson (No. 10), Kyle Busch (No. 16), Brad Keselowski (No. 17) and Joey Logano (No. 25), as well as Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman (No. 8) and William Byron (No. 18). 'So lucky': North Central grad living dream, from calling Indy 500 to first Brickyard 400 on TV From that seeding, drivers were slotted into a five-round, single-elimination bracket, where drivers' finishing position in each race assigned to a given round would determine whether they beat their opponent or not. By the end of Round 1, all drivers who had won a race at that point in the season — minus Atlanta race-winner Elliott — had been eliminated, setting the stage for the unpredictable rest of the tournament that would follow. After Atlanta, the Chicago street course hosted the Round of 16, followed by the quarterfinals at Sonoma and the semifinals at Dover. Sunday's Brickyard 400 hosts the finale, which marks the final race of TNT's broadcast stint for this season, which has spanned the entire In-Season Challenge stretch. The team of the winner of the In-Season Challenge will win a $1 million grand-prize. Katherine Legge's debut Brickyard 400: She didn't get an Indy 500 ride. It led to running 2 NASCAR races at IMS Though Gibbs and Dillon have varying levels of Cup series experience, neither has won a Cup race in their careers. Gibbs has twice finished runner-up — coming at Darlington a year ago and earlier this month at Chicago. Dillion's career-best finish came in 2020 at Talladega where he took third place. Kyle Larson: Defending Brickyard 400 winner returns to IMS hoping 'to do a much better job' than Indy 500 On the road to the championship round of the inaugural In-Season Challenge, Gibbs has finished 14th (Atlanta, eliminating No. 27 Justin Haley), second (Chicago, eliminating No. 22 AJ Allmendinger), seventh (Sonoma, eliminating No. 14 Zane Smith) and fifth (Dover, eliminating No. 23 Tyler Reddick). Dillion has had just one top 10 throughout the Challenge, finishing eighth (Atlanta, eliminating No. 1 Hamlin), 20th (Chicago, eliminating No. 17 Keselowski), 17th (Sonoma, eliminating No. 8 Bowman) and 20th (Dover, eliminating No. 12 John Hunter Nemechek).
NBC Sports
6 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
How to watch Sunday's Brickyard 400 Cup race at Indianapolis: Start time, TV info and weather
With only three active winners in the field, Indianapolis Motor Speedway stands a good chance of featuring a new face in victory lane of the 29th Brickyard 400. Among the favorites to kiss the bricks for the first time is Denny Hamlin, who is coming off his series-high fourth victory this season at Dover Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver leads the Cup Series with seven wins in crown jewel races (Daytona 500, Southern 500, Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600) and would become the fifth driver to complete the grand slam with a win at Indy. Joey Logano also is seeking his first win on the 2.5-mile oval with Team Penske, which has a record 20 victories in the Indy 500. William Byron, whose average finish of 25.33 over the past six races ranks 31st in Cup, will seek to snap his slump by becoming the first since Jamie McMurray (2010) to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season. Defending race winner, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski are the former Brickyard 400 winners who will race Sunday. Among other notables in the 39-driver field, Katherine Legge will become the 21st driver to start the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400. In the finale to the inaugural In Season Challenge, 32nd-seeded Ty Dillon will face No. 6 seed Ty Gibbs. The highest finisher will earn $1 million. Dustin Long, Details for Sunday's Brickyard 400 Cup race at Indianapolis (All times Eastern) START: The command to start engines will be given at 2:08 p.m. ... The green flag is scheduled to wave at 2:20 p.m. PRERACE: The Cup garage will open at 11 a.m. ... Driver introductions are at 1:25 p.m. ... The national anthem will be performed at 2:01 p.m. by Sergeant First Class Ronald Walker, Indiana National Guard. DISTANCE: The race is 160 laps (400 miles) on the 2.5-mile oval in Indianapolis, Indiana. STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 50. Stage 2 ends at Lap 100. ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 39 cars entered at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. TV/RADIO: TNT will broadcast the race starting at 1 p.m. ... SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will have radio coverage. FORECAST: WeatherUnderground — Partly cloudy with a high of 89 degrees and winds from the south to southwest at 5 to 10 mph and a 50% chance of rain. It's expected to be 87 degrees with an 18% chance of rain at the start of the Cup race. LAST TIME: Kyle Larson led the final seven laps to win the July 21, 2024 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, less than two months after his Indy 500 debut.
Indianapolis Star
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
What is the start time for the IndyCar race at Laguna Seca?
The IndyCar Series goes to wine country to compete at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca in the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey, a 95-lap race on an 11-turn, 2.238-mile layout. The series is finishing a busy stretch of five races over four weekends. Pato O'Ward has won two of the last three race but still trails points leader Alex Palou by 99 points. Push-to-pass: 150 seconds total in increments of up to 15 seconds. Tire allotment: Five sets primary and five sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Rookie drivers may use one additional set of tires in the first session. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires unless wet conditions are declared. Nathan Brown is your best IndyCar follow, and keep up with coverage throughout the season with IndyStar's motorsports newsletter. Alex Palou has won seven races, Kyle Kirkwood three, Pato O'Ward two Scott Dixon one. Palou is 99 points clear of second-place O'Ward with four races to go. Alex Palou won from pole position, with Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi completing the podium. Alex Palou swept the pole and race in 2024. Is it going to be one of those weekends? As much as I'd love for the championship fight to get tighter, Palou has exceled here. He didn't run away and hide a year ago, but he was clearly the best car from the jump. This year, Palou has won four of the five natural-terrain road-course races — and in the one he didn't (Mid-Ohio), his small silly mistake cost him the win. We haven't gotten a true Alex Palou beatdown of a weekend since the spring, and it feels like we're due. How will Team Penske fare this weekend? I certainly don't expect a win. I think there's an off-chance we get a podium from either Scott McLaughlin or Will Power. I still think we could get a Penske win before the season ends, but not here. Chip Ganassi Racing has won each of the last three trips to the track, and if I'm making predictions, there's no reason to expect that to change unless something odd happens. The Rookie of the Year race couldn't be tighter. Who has the edge between Louis Foster and Robert Shwartzman? Foster has had a better track record both in qualifying performance and consistency, so in a tie with four races to go, I'll give a slight edge to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie, although I think this very much could be alive until the finale — at an oval, where Prema has gotten the bulk of their strong results this year. From Zak Brown: McLaren Racing CEO says IndyCar must remain 'commercially viable' Insider: Failure at Iowa sparks latest 2026 IndyCar schedule questions (All times ET; all IndyCar sessions are on IndyCar Live, IndyCar Radio and Sirius XM Channel 218) 5 p.m.: IndyCar practice, FS2 11:30 a.m.: IndyCar practice, FS1 2:30 p.m.: IndyCar qualifying, FS1 Noon: IndyCar warmup, FS2 3 p.m.: IndyCar race, Fox TV: Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 27, 2025, on Fox. Green flag is scheduled for 3:22 p.m. Will Buxton is the play-by-play voice, with analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. Fox Sports app. Watch free with a Fubo trial IndyCar Nation is on SiriusXM Channel 218, IndyCar Live and the IndyCar Radio Network (check affiliates for each race) Friday: 20% chance of rain and highs in the 60s. Saturday: 20% chance of rain and highs in the 60s. Sunday: Partly cloudy skies and highs in the 60s. The 2025 IndyCar Series schedule includes 17 races, all televised on Fox. (Times are ET; %-downtown street course, &-road course, *-oval) March 2, St. Petersburg, Florida % (Winner: Alex Palou) March 23, Thermal, California & (Winner: Alex Palou) April 13, Long Beach, California % (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) May 4, Birmingham, Alabama & (Winner: Alex Palou) May 10, Indianapolis & (Winner: Alex Palou) May 25, Indianapolis 500 * (Winner: Alex Palou) June 1, Detroit % (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) June 15, St. Louis * (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood) June 22, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin & (Winner: Alex Palou) July 6, Lexington, Ohio & (Winner: Scott Dixon) July 12, Newton, Iowa * (Winner: Pato O'Ward) July 13, Newton, Iowa * (Winner: Alex Palou) July 20, Toronto % (Winner: Alex Palou) July 27, Monterey, California &, 3 p.m. Aug. 10, Portland &, 3 p.m. Aug. 24, Milwaukee *, 2 p.m. Aug. 31, Nashville *, 2:30 p.m. (Team and drivers; *-Indianapolis 500 only)
